WWE Survivor Series: 25 Years Of The Undertaker (2015)

The 29th annual Survivor Series had some intrigue surrounding it about a month ago when Seth Rollins was slated headline the event by defending his WWE World Heavyweight championship against the No. 1 contender, Roman Reigns.

The intrigue only increased when it was announced on Nov. 6 that Rollins had torn his ACL, MCL and medial meniscus and that the injury would keep him out of action for an estimated 6-9 months, and force him to relinquish his title. Rollins’ unfortunate injury forced WWE to scramble a bit and put together a 16-man, single elimination tournament to determine a new champion, which will culminate at Survivor Series at the Philips Arena in Atlanta.

Although WWE’s plans for Survivor Series and beyond changed somewhat with Rollins on the shelf, it will be interesting to see just how much they changed at the end of this tournament.

Before we move into the predictions, it would have been nice to predict a traditional Survivor Series match, but WWE has yet to announce any participants.

With that said, let’s not waste anymore time. Let’s jump into the predictions for the 2015 Survivor Series.

Even before Rollins succumbed to his injury, Reigns was the favorite to walk out of Survivor Series as the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. We haven’t seen any indicators that WWE isn’t going to at least put him into the finals, so there’s all reason that Reigns will have a huge role when it comes to the finals.

This match is a little tricky. While it makes all the sense in the world to have the heel Owens against the babyface Reigns in the final. And while Owens definitely deserves of that spot, I just think there’s more drama with the two former Shield brethren — Ambrose and Reigns – go against each other for the top prize in the entire industry.

The outcome of those two matches would leave us with Reigns and Ambrose in the final for the WWE World Heavyweight championship. This is where things get even trickier. There’s obviously multiple ways WWE could go about this. It could have Reigns beat Ambrose clean, leave both men babyface and hope people finally fully embrace him. WWE could do the same with Ambrose, but I believe that’s the least likely scenario to play out.

The decision makers could also flip one of them heel, which I think is the most likely scenario to play out. The only question is: Which one? If WWE is dead set on making Reigns the top babyface in the business and the face of the company, then it will probably turn Ambrose heel. But if the company wants to be daring, it would flip Reigns into a heel and turn only a smattering of boos from the crowd into an entire hoard. With that being the case, I’m going with Reigns to win and turn heel. I know a Money in the Bank cash-in is in play from Sheamus, but I don’t think anyone with any common sense wants to see Sheamus win the WWE World Heavyweight championship at this point.

Prediction: Roman Reigns WINS the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

The Undertaker & Kane vs. The Wyatt Family

I have all of the desire in the world to see The Undertaker showered in praise and admiration for lasting 25 years in WWE without going crazy. However, I have no such desire to see this match unfortunately, as puzzling storytelling and booking have soured my anticipation for the encounter. First off, why would this match only be two-on-two? This angle seemed tailor-made for a four-on-four Survivor Series match, but I guess that made too much sense.

Also, after the angle the WWE shot in England, when The Undertaker and Kane laid waste to The Wyatt Family with ease, the payoff has already taken place. So what exactly am I getting out of watching this match at Survivor Series again? As far as a winner, I would hope WWE has some surprise partners for The Undertaker and Kane to even up the odds, because having them beat four men doesn’t help anyone.

With it being the 25th anniversary of The Undertaker’s WWE debut, I don’t see a chance in you know what of him and Kane losing.

Prediction: The Undertaker & Kane def. The Wyatt Family

WWE Divas championship – Charlotte (c) vs. Paige

Whether you approved of the angle these two shot Monday or not, the match is one of the few I’m actually looking forward to on this show. I honestly didn’t feel that way until this past Monday. At the end of the day, that’s what WWE wanted, even if it did come by disrespecting Ric Flair and his family. The match itself should be good, as Charlotte and Paige are two of the best female performers in the world today.

The outcome, however, should be predictable, as Paige’s character should get her comeuppance for the rotten things she said Monday, thus giving Charlotte the victory.

Prediction: Charlotte RETAINS the WWE Divas championship

Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze

I’m glad to see that this match is taking place on this show, but this rivalry severely lacks heat. I understand that Rollins’ injury threw a monkey wrench into a lot of WWE’s plans, but this rivalry deserved better. Hopefully, Ziggler and Breeze deliver and high-quality match and force the creative team to pay more attention to them moving forward.

As for a winner, I don’t see a reason to beat Breeze in his first pay-per-view match. Although he did drop his first match Raw match.